Jews Dominate Vanity Fair 100 Most Influential Moguls List
“So Much for Controlling the Media” was the headline on Heeb’s recent obituary for its own print product. But the latest issue of Vanity Fair offers evidence to the contrary; with Jews dominating that magazine’s annual index of the 100 most influential moguls, our grip seems secure as ever.
At the top: Preternaturally youthful Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose “World Domination Watch” — Vanity Fair’s words — cites the fact that “Facebook runs more banner advertisements than any other website (176 billion a quarter) and drives more U.S. visitor traffic to some sites than even Google.”
The founders of mighty Google themselves, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, rank third; as Vanity Fair notes ominously, “Ken Auletta revealed in ‘Googled’ that the trio discussed buying The New York Times.” New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — whose former job involved running a local media company — took seventh place, followed by Oracle founder and amateur sailor Larry Ellison, holder of “the third-biggest American fortune after Bill Gates’s and Warren Buffett’s.”
Further down the list, the strivers include Hebrews like Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, which manages $3.3 trillion in assets; schmatte-peddler-made-good Ralph Lauren, who just opened a 23,000-square-foot flagship shop in Paris; J. Crew chief Millard “Mickey” Drexler, credited by VF with “brilliant retailing”; and Comcast head Brian Roberts, whose game-changing acquisition of NBC is pending regulatory approval.
Some also-rans who didn’t even make the top 20 might have to hide in the Hamptons this weekend: DreamWorks Animation’s Jeffrey Katzenberg, MacAndrews & Forbes honcho Ron Perelman, Bloomberg LP vice president Dan Doctoroff, Daily Show MC Jon Stewart, and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Whither heavyweights like Barry Diller? He’s at #40 this year. Despair not, guys; there’s always next year.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
